Skip to main content

Eurasianet

Main Menu

  • Regions
  • Topics
  • Media
  • About
  • Search
  • Newsletter
  • русский
  • Support us
X

Caucasus

Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia

Central Asia

Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan

Conflict Zones

Abkhazia
Nagorno Karabakh
South Ossetia

Eastern Europe

Belarus
Moldova
Russia
The Baltics
Ukraine

Eurasian Fringe

Afghanistan
China
EU
Iran
Mongolia
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
X

Environment

Economy

Politics

Kazakhstan's Bloody January 2022
Kyrgyzstan 2020 unrest

Security

Society

American diplomats in Central Asia
Arts and Culture
Coronavirus
Student spotlight
X

Visual Stories

Podcast
Video

Blogs

Tamada Tales
The Bug Pit

Podcasts

EurasiaChat
Expert Opinions
The Central Asianist
X
You can search using keywords to narrow down the list.
Tajikistan, Central Asia, Russia

In time of hunger, Tajik president pictured with plenty

Let them eat cake.

Dec 18, 2020
Rahmon cakes He just can’t get enough (all photos from president.tj)
potatos Bobojon Ghafurov district
Rahmon bread Shahrinav district
Rahmon cookies Khujand
Rahmon sausage Khujand
Rahmon plov eating contest Judging a plov eating contest in Bobojon Ghafurov district
rahmon booze Khujand
rahmon candy Opening a candy factory in Khujand
Rahmon fishing Opening a fish farm in Vahdat
Rahmon bread Rudaki district
Rahmon more bread Khovaling district
Rahmon corn Rudaki district
Rahmon pears Shahrinav district
Rahmon secret police food Commissioning apartments for employees of the State Committee for National Security, Tajikistan's secret police.
Rahmon cucumbers Shahrinav district
prev
next

Tajikistan is in the throes of a food crisis. In a regular year, the United Nations estimates, almost a third of the country is malnourished. Now it’s surely worse. The corrupt, ineffectual government was not prepared for a shock like coronavirus.

It’s unclear if President Emomali Rahmon is aware. The strongman’s image consultants think he looks great standing next to stacks of bread, piles of fresh fruit, and refrigerators full of sausages. He crisscrosses Tajikistan, always finding plenty.

Yet such abundance is out of reach for many Tajiks. This is a function of Tajikistan’s dysfunctional economic model, which provides few jobs at home while allowing the elite to become obscenely rich.

Tajikistan’s biggest export is labor. Last year, remittances from Tajik migrants in Russia were worth around $2.5 billion, equivalent to a third of GDP. And now those remittances have plummeted by almost 40 percent. The flow of migrants is down 57 percent this year, according to Russian government figures.

The shortfall has pushed the somoni down and inflation up. Prices for sugar, eggs, vegetable and cotton oil, flour, and meat have all risen by at least one-quarter since early October. The UN’s World Food Program has reported having trouble moving food into the country due to COVID-19 lockdown measures. Many families routinely forgo basic provisions.

The president seems to hope he can airbrush the problem away. These photos appeared on Rahmon’s official website this autumn.

 

Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter. Support Eurasianet: Help keep our journalism open to all, and influenced by none.

Related

Upgrade in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan ties holds promise of trade bonanza
Uzbekistan: Ex-police officer convicted over Nukus events dies 
Georgia faces U.S. and European pressure on Russia flights

Popular

New wave of labor protests hits Georgia
Nini Gabritchidze
Upgrade in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan ties holds promise of trade bonanza
Uzbekistan: Ex-police officer convicted over Nukus events dies 

Eurasianet

  • About
  • Team
  • Contribute
  • Republishing
  • Privacy Policy
  • Corrections
  • Contact
Eurasianet © 2023